2025 05 15

Man walks downtown. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck

This afternoon, I have a portrait shoot downtown. Perhaps I will have some time to sneak away and do some street shooting. In reality, I won’t. In a wild and depressing Sign of the Times: I am being paid more to make corporate portraits than I would be had I accepted a commercial project that is also shooting today. Commercial jobs are how I built a life in photography, and for the rates to be as bad as they have become, the struggle to stay afloat in the endless hustle of photography is real.

This is why I’m considering getting a “real job*.” But more on this another day, soon.

*job will still be of my own making and fully photography-focused.

-Clayton